I've spent more than 250 hours traveling by train, plane, car, and cruise ship this year, and I'm convinced trains are the best way to travel right now

As Insider has previously reported, 2022 saw an increase in traffic, inflated gas prices, packed cruise ships, and significant disruptions to air travel.

Read more: Disappointing travel photos show why 2022 has been the worst

To avoid the chaos this year, I've taken to the rails more than I have in previous years. Considering the comfort, reliability, and low environmental impact they offer, I think trains are the way to go in 2022.

I started the year flying back and forth between New York City and Phoenix to visit my partner once a month until May, when we took a cross-country road trip to move in together in New York.

Read more: I've traveled long distances alone by train, plane, and ship. Here are 11 of the most important things I've learned about solo travel.

I also flew twice to Austin, Texas, and to Salt Lake City to visit family.

I also traveled for work to Baltimore by train, flew to Florida for a seven-day cruise, traveled by train to Eastern Canada, and flew back to NYC.

During my 2022 travels, I've seen everything from sky-high gas prices to flight delays and cancellations to overcrowded cruise ships and destinations.

Every train I've been on this year has had a less-than-full car, making it more spacious than any cruise ship or flight I've been on.

Most times, I've gotten a row to myself. I've only had to sit next to someone during half of one train ride this year.

Thanks to the pandemic, I value my personal space more than ever.

Cars have unquestionably offered the most personal space during my travels this year.

But with increasingly more cars on the road, rest stops and gas stations have become more crowded, and traffic jams are more plentiful.

I've personally experienced too many long lines and packed bathrooms for my comfort this year.

While I could escape to my cabin for some space, many activities, restaurants, and shows on the ship felt filled to the brim with cruisers.

I waited nearly two hours in line to play laser tag for just 10 minutes on one occasion.

Read More: Disappointing photos show what it's actually like to go on a cruise

Several flights I've taken this year have been packed, while many airports I've traveled through had long security lines and busy terminals.

And I've seen many travelers desperately trying to hop on a new flight after their flight was delayed or canceled.

Overcrowded flights have been such a problem that I've been offered $250 to $500 vouchers to change my flight on several occasions. While this tactic wasn't unheard of in previous years, I'd never experienced it so frequently.

I don't have a car, but I'm fortunate enough to have a partner who does. Because my partner drives a Toyota Prius, getting from Phoenix to NYC cost us just under $200 in gas.

I'm even more fortunate that my partner has a hybrid vehicle, considering the exorbitantly high gas prices this year.

Our road trip could have cost us upward of $350 for gas if we were driving a more common car like a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord.That's still much cheaper than the $700 flight I booked between New York and Phoenix in June.

Train travel has been the second-cheapest form of travel for me this year.

I've paid between $100 and $300 a ticket on Amtrak and Via Rail Canada trains for economy, business-class, and first-class seating.

Amtrak's first-class ticket included a meal, while its business-class ticket did not. Via Rail Canada's business-class ticket offered a meal, though there was no first class on the route I selected.

I've been flying back and forth between NYC and the southwest nearly every month this year, and it's only gotten more expensive for me to fly.

It cost me $200 for a round-trip direct flight from NYC to Phoenix in February when I booked the tickets a month in advance. In June, I booked flights with connections to and from NYC and Salt Lake City two months in advance and paid nearly $700.

I expected flight prices to increase in the summer since it's a more popular time to travel, but I was shocked by how much more expensive flights were this year.

I used to occasionally opt for a premium economy or even a first-class ticket for flights in the past, but this year, I couldn't justify the cost.

I went on my first cruise in March, a $2,000, seven-day cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's Wonder of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world, from Florida to four Caribbean ports.

While this was the most expensive form of travel I booked this year, the cost includes several value-adds like accommodation, dining options, and activities.

Even with the additional two to three hours spent in airports, a plane is the only way I've gotten across the US in less than a day.

When I traveled to Baltimore by train in February, it only took about 2 ½ hours. The same journey took me twice as long when I went by car in August.

In general, many cars travel faster than trains in the US, according to CNN. But traffic added considerably more time to my trips this year.

Thanks to traffic, a recent road trip from Baltimore to New York took five hours, while it usually takes three and a half.

Although the cruise was the vacation itself, a seven-day cruise felt too long to me, and by the end, I was ready to get off the ship.

Most cars typically have more room for luggage than a plane or train would provide. During our road trip from NYC to Phoenix, we stuffed everything my partner owns into his car.

Passengers can check their bags as they board the train and get their bags from an attendant after exiting. In my opinion, it seemed much more straightforward than checking a bag for a flight and having to hunt around at the baggage-claim area.

I checked one suitcase during my cruise, and it was in front of my room by the first evening of the trip.

As Insider reported, hundreds of passengers worldwide have had to deal with the chaos of lost luggage in 2022.

Other passengers have had to fight their way through crowded baggage claims and stacks of abandoned suitcases to hunt for their luggage.

And even though I've always chosen to carry on my luggage to avoid this chaos, I've found that most flights I've taken this year have made me check my bag at the gate regardless, since the overhead bins fill up so quickly on full flights.

While my train journeys haven't had a perfect track record, I've experienced the fewest and shortest delays this year while traveling by train.

The scheduled port arrival time isn't actually when you'll be off the ship.

As Insider previously reported, local authorities have to inspect the ship before passengers can get off, which can take anywhere between 20 minutes to an hour or more.

While traveling by car was seamless during my road trip from Phoenix to NYC, we haven't been so lucky during other road trips.

My flights this year have been delayed for anywhere between an hour to 24 hours later than the original departure time.

As a result, I've almost missed family events, and the uncertainty of whether I'll get to my destination on time makes me anxious every time I fly.

Although our car was packed to the brim with luggage during our cross-country trip, I found it was more comfortable than other transportation modes because we had the space all to ourselves.

I think train seats are more comfortable than plane or car seats.

The headrests on the Canada Via Rail trains I've been on were curved, so I could rest my head comfortably when lounging.

When it comes to comfort, cruise ships generally offer another level of amenities for the long journey.

On my recent cruise, I booked an ocean-view room with a mini fridge, a bathroom, plenty of storage, and two twin beds pushed together to make one king-sized bed.

Unfortunately, I felt the ship rocking each night, which made me sick and kept me awake. The few times I did sleep, I often found myself waking up in the crevice between the two mattresses.

I've found that airplane seats in basic economy, which I fly almost exclusively, have the least comfortable seats of all the transportation I've taken.

Across airlines, I've found basic economy seats to be thin and poorly spaced. Flights also tend to make me feel cramped and trapped, especially when I'm sitting in the middle seat.

What's more, flight turbulence gives me motion sickness and makes me feel anxious.

Train travel is almost always more eco-friendly than plane travel, the BBC found, using the EcoPassenger calculator, a tool by the International Railways Union and the European Environment Agency that calculates the carbon footprint of various forms of travel.

This is because trains tend to emit less carbon than planes.

Cars generally produce fewer carbon emissions than planes, the BBC reported.

This is especially true if the vehicle is electric. Even if it isn't, carpooling is still an environmentally friendly option compared to air travel.

Aviation makes up about 2% of global carbon emissions, National Geographic has reported.

The climate effect of flying is much greater than other modes of transportation, because the non-CO2 greenhouse gases that planes emit at higher altitudes persist longer than gases formed at the Earth's surface, Eloise Marais, a researcher from the Atmospheric Composition Group at the University of Leicester, told BBC News in 2019.

The International Council on Clean Transportation says that cruise-ship passengers emit almost two times more CO2 than those who fly and rent a hotel.

Cruise ships emit three times more carbon dioxide per passenger per mile than passenger jets do, as well as more than a ton of trash per day, a recent research review from Marine Pollution Bulletin found.

This makes me want to avoid cruising for the rest of my life.

Cruise ships offer more entertainment than planes, trains, and cars, with shows and activities like waterslides, rock-climbing walls, musicals, and laser tag. It's worth noting that the ship isn't just a mode of transport, but a destination in itself.

Most flights I've been on have had personal TV screens on the back of each seat with dozens of movies and TV selections. I've found that this makes the time in the air go by faster for me, and it's helped me deal with travel anxiety.

All the Amtrak and Canada Via Rail trains I took this year had WiFi on them, which I used to complete work and stream movies and TV shows.

My partner and I spent our cross-country trip listening to pre-downloaded playlists and podcasts. We also spent a lot of time just talking. If you're concerned about entertaining yourself during a long road trip, I suggest bringing a buddy and planning ahead.

Based on my experiences getting around by train, car, plane, and ship, I've found that trains offer the most comfort, reliability, and personal space for one of the lowest costs and least environmental impact.

Driving is my next favorite option, thanks to its cost, space for luggage, and comfort.

One of the biggest losers for me is also one of the most ubiquitous ways for traveling long distances. Flying did poorly in every category except travel time.

Finally, while I think cruises have a decent system for handling luggage and are fairly reliable, the price and environmental impact feel too costly for me to plan on cruising again anytime soon.